Kayak from Cala Blanca to Cala Trebaluger

Tuesday 19 June 2007
I got up at 0530. The birds are singing in the pine trees that surround the beach on 3 sides. A flock of swallows occasionally flies over the cala. Doves are cooing in every direction. The first 2 notes are higher and longer than the last with an open note between the second and the last note. There are a few clouds this morning. I went for a short walk to the road behind the beach. There is a large pile of sea grass there. I presumed it was the result of a beach cleaning operation. My speculation was later confirmed when a crew arrived with a tractor and began raking the beach and hauling the sea grass to the back of the beach.

I studied the Coastline Aeroguide to Menorca by GeoPlaneta, part of a series of books that cover the entire coast of Spain. These books contain aerial photos of 3 kilometer segments of the coast with visitor facilities, descriptions of beaches, information on coastal navigation and anchorages, festivals, history, geology, archaeological, and architectural sights. It comes in a handy pocket size as well as the larger hardback version, and was our primary guide for selecting landing sites.
Angel got up at 0700 and we went for a short walk around the village. There are public showers here, but the water was turned off. Everyone was up by 0730. I heated up the mint tea that Ana made for me last night. I was asleep before it was ready to drink. We had café con leche, cookies, and I finished the salad Boris made last night. We packed the kayaks and were paddling by 0930. The seas were calm, only a light breeze, and the swell was not noticeable.



We paddled around Cap d’Artrutx, and immediatelynoticed a change in the sea state. There was still very little wind, but the swell was much bigger, more than one meter high with a short period of 4 to 5 seconds. Other kayakers only tens of meters away disappeared in the trough. We paddled by the urban coastline of Cala en Bosch and Son Xoriguer. Several tour boats passed inside of us, and a large grey yacht passed outside of us.











We stopped for lunch at Arenal de Son Saura
at 1200. Half a dozen yachts were anchored in the cove. Tour boats were dropping passengers off at the beach and the large grey yacht that had passed outside of us earlier was anchored here. It was flying a British flag from the stern and had launched an inflatable boat which delivering passengers to the beach.








Angel put up his beach shelter, and we spread
our lunch out in its welcome shade. We ate melon con piel de sapo, bananas, and crackers. After lunch Ana, David, Boris, and Caryn lay in the sun. Angel went for a walk, and I soon did the same. I walked northwest along the beach. At the north end of the beach I crossed an old aqueduct and followed a trail to another beach to the west. This beach had much larger surf than the one on which we had landed. I walked the length of this beach and found Cami de Cavalls, the ancient horse trail around the island. I walked to the next rocky headland, crossed the sharp rocky spray zone, and swam back to the kayaks.



I spread out a large piece of cotton fabric that I use for a towel and MUG, and sat on the beach writing until everyone else was ready to pack the boats and resume paddling.
We left the beach at 1430 resuming our march to the east along the south coast of Menorca. I paddled with Caryn for a while making suggestions for paddling in the swells. We have been quartering into a swell out of the southeast since rounding Punta d’Artrutx mid morning. The wind is at our backs, out of the west, at 5 to 8 knots, very light and pleasant.


David headed for a cave and invited me to go with him. Ana followed too. The waves were too big to approach the cave entrance safely. They sometimes broke at the cave mouth or inside the cave. We continued along the shore and explored Calas Macarella and Macarelleta. I took a picture of the hotel at Santa Galdana, explored Calas Mitjana and Mitjaneta, and some beautiful caves and a long natural bridge at es Pont de n’Aleix. Angel met us here after leaving Boris and Caryn on the beach at Cala Trebalúger.

We landed on the beach at Cala Trebalúger at 1730. It was still quite hot. Caryn and I rigged my tarp to provide some shade on the beach while Boris, Angel, Ana, and David paddled up Torrent Trebalúger. I deployed a fishing line baited with Sepia in the rocks to the east of the beach and caught a sargo. Ana, Boris, and Angel then did the same, and Ana caught a bigger sargo. Boris, Caryn, Ana, and David made pasta and a salad. I ate late because I was so interested in fishing.




After supper Ana, Angel,and I studied the stars. We saw Venus, should have found Saturn, but it had set below the trees on the western horizon before we looked. We saw Scorpio, Jupiter, Arcturus, Spica, and the summer triangle. The sound of the surf is loud here, louder than at any other place we have camped. It almost drowns out the sounds of the birds and insects. I fell asleep about 2330.